FEATURE CHANNEL PARTNERS

or years, success in the IT channel was measured by product sales, margins and the ability to close deals. That formula is rapidly becoming outdated. As Artificial Intelligence reshapes enterprise technology, customers face growing complexity and procurement models continue to evolve, partners are increasingly being judged on something very different: the business outcomes they deliver after the sale.

Across the channel, vendors are seeing the same shift. Customers want advisers rather than resellers, specialists rather than generalists and long-term partners rather than one-off suppliers. They expect guidance through increasingly complex technology decisions, ongoing operational support and measurable business value that extends well beyond deployment.

The result is a fundamental transformation in what defines a successful partner. Rather than relying on transactional sales, tomorrow’ s market leaders are building recurring services, developing deep technical expertise and positioning themselves as trusted advisers capable of simplifying an increasingly complicated technology landscape.

From reseller to trusted adviser One of the strongest themes emerging across the channel is the decline of the traditional resale model. As marketplaces become more common and customers gain greater purchasing flexibility, vendors believe the transaction itself is becoming less valuable than the relationship surrounding it.

Guy McWilliam, VP, Global Channels at Flexera, argued that partners need to rethink how they measure success.

“ The partners who will lead in the next few years are the ones moving away from a transactional view of the business,” he said.“ For a long time, success in the channel was measured by what was sold and at what margin. That’ s becoming harder to sustain as customers gain more flexibility in how they buy, and marketplaces become a standard route to procurement. When the transaction itself carries less value, the partners who win are the ones who have built something around it.”

That additional value increasingly comes through continuous visibility into customer environments, particularly during cloud migrations and platform modernisation projects. Rather than simply implementing technology, McWilliam said leading partners remain engaged afterwards, helping customers understand their estates and optimise them as they evolve.

He added:“ Margin from resale will likely keep shrinking as buying habits shift. The partners who treat that as the end of their value will struggle. The ones who treat it as the start of a longer relationship, built on expertise and ongoing support, rather than the size of a deal, will be the ones that will still be relevant in five years.”

Michael Amselem, Chief Revenue Officer at CTERA, sees the same trend.

“ The partners who will lead the next decade will see themselves as an extension of their customers’ businesses, not a line item on a purchase order,” he said.“ Transactional resale is being commoditised out of existence.”

The IT channel is evolving from transactional sales towards long-term advisory relationships built on expertise, recurring services and measurable business outcomes. Partners that invest in specialist knowledge, Artificial Intelligence governance and continuous customer engagement will be best placed to differentiate themselves and achieve sustainable growth in an increasingly competitive market. We hear from industry experts about what tomorrow’ s top-performing channel partners will look like.

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